April 10, 2018

Investors pour nearly $2M into Lancaster tech firm

Lancaster insurance technology startup benefix said it has secured $1.98 million in funding from the firm's first outside investors.

New York-based Activate Venture Partners led the investment round, known as a seed investment round. It was joined by Delaware-based Leading Edge Ventures, New York-based MidCap Equity Partners, LLC, State College-based Ben Franklin Technology Partners and other angel investors.

Angel investors provide capital for a business startup, usually in exchange for ownership equity.

Benefix declined to disclose details beyond the total raised and the investors that participated.

The fundraising process, which lasted about eight months, took longer than expected because of the interest level from investors, company spokeswoman Sarah Veronis said.

"We oversubscribed the round, and that process added a few months to the closing," Veronis said.

Benefix plans to use the new funds to continue product development and accelerate growth, according to a news release.

Benefix offers software that pulls up group health plan quotes for insurance brokers to provide to businesses. The company does business in four states: Pennsylvania, Colorado, New York and New Jersey.
"We're incredibly proud of how far we have come and are excited by the opportunity in front of us," benefix founder and CEO Matt Ranauro said in a statement.

The company will seek additional fundraising if capital is required to execute more quickly, Veronis said.

This was the first formal fundraising done by the company. Benefix was funded by Ranauro for the first six months after its inception in 2016, according to Veronis.

The startup has been going full speed ahead since then.

Last March, benefix was one of 15 startups selected to pitch their products in Silicon Valley to health insurance industry executives, top brokerage firms and angel investors, among others. Veronis said the goal of the presentation was to raise awareness.

Last September, the startup finished in the top nine in the Rise of the Rest competition. Ranauro made a pitch to AOL founder Steve Case for $100,000 in investment funding. It took place during the seed investment round, Veronis said.

Benefix has 14 employees and has gone from 46 brokers to more than 1,600 brokers using its platform in less than a year, according to Veronis.

February 13, 2018

Corporate ink: Perception of tattoos in the workplace is changing

Andculture and other companies, particularly startups, give workers a lot of flexibility in both how they work and what they wear to work — tattoos, piercings and all. What matters most is their contributions to the company’s overall goals.

That’s how Matt Ranauro runs his startup, Lancaster-based benefit management platform benefix, which is about one and half years old. Ranauro is heavily tattooed, most recently having memorialized of the most famous plays from the Philadelphia Eagles’ victory in Super Bowl LII. The tattoo, below his right elbow, traces the play in which quarterback Nick Foles caught a touchdown pass.

In his interactions with clients, Ranauro aims to defy stereotypes about people with tattoos.

“I go out of my way to be very personable and have conversations, and it’s more than just the stuff that’s on my arms,” Ranauro said.

January 22, 2018

Guest view: Health care, we've got a problem

It's impossible to keep up with all the health care news these days. We're being bombarded by information about how broken our health care system is: the premiums, the legislation, the cost, the politics, the personal stories.

Like any reasonably aware American, I knew the health care industry was broken. But it wasn’t until I began to research the viability of starting a company that would unify the health insurance ecosystem on a digital platform that I realized how big of a problem it truly was.

January 17, 2018

In an Era of Uncertainty in the Healthcare Industry, Benefix Proves Insurtech is a Bet Worth Making

In one year Benefix has tripled their number of employees, finaled in the Rise of the Rest competition, expanded their footprint to four states, added over 300,000 people to their platform and closed a $2 million VC led seed round. When in comes to Benefix, 2017 proved that there’s something to this "insurtech" thing.